Entree price range: Menu offers appetizers, salads and wraps, soup, burgers and sandwiches. Soup at $2.95 a cup to $8.50 for a steak salad or sandwich.

Two most popular items: Pot roast sandwich ($5.95) on a hoagie bun with horseradish mayonnaise, and the Blue Line Chips ($4.50), homemade potato chips with blue cheese crumbles and sliced green onions and drizzled with blue cheese dressing.

We ate: BBQ pork ribs that aren’t on the regular menu but were on special with fries and cole slaw for $6.95. While the fries and slaw were unremarkable, the charcoaled ribs with a sweet flavor practically fell off the bone with each bite. They tasted better than those we ate a few months ago in Kansas City, Mo., at Jack Stack Barbecue, known for its award-winning ribs. Owner Becky Yates said the ribs are such a hit that they now are offered every Thursday night. We asked that the blue cheese dressing and crumbles be left off half the order of our Blue Line Chips. I liked the crispness of the plain chips — some the thinness of a store-bought chip with others twice as thick — better than the blue-cheese loaded ones, which were a bit heavy to handle, but tasty. The Slapshot Steak Sandwich ($8.50), a rib-eye on a hoagie bun with grilled onions and steak sauce, was cooked pink inside, just as ordered.

“Ahh” factors: Hawks Nest, which is dominated by a large, horseshoe-shaped bar, is capitalizing on the popularity of the Rockford IceHogs hockey team, a feeder team for the Chicago Blackhawks. Along with its name, menu items play off hockey as well, including the Enforcer Burger ($6.50) and the Power Play Potatoes ($4.95). Our server checked back with us at our table several times and was pleasant, even as the place was packed about 6:15 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, when the Hogs were playing a block north at the MetroCentre.

“Hmm” moment: You can’t get everything on the menu if you go to the bar later than an hour and a half or so before an IceHogs game, unless you don’t mind waiting longer for your food to arrive. The Event Night Menu is limited to half a dozen items to ensure those who stop by before the game can get their sandwiches, chicken strips, wings or waffle fries in a jiffy.

Next time, I’ll: Dine there on a Thursday and order those ribs. Plus, I’ll get the plain Homemade Potato Chips ($3.50).

Georgette Braun is a columnist for GO. Contact her at 815-987-1331 and gbraun@rrstar.com.